A Long Days Journey Into Night essays

A Long Day's Journey Into Night essays A Long Day's Journey Into Night reveals the nature of the story in the title itself. All of the characters in the story are making a long journey towards darkness, their lives all were once happy and good, and have since become dismal and depressing. Every character has at least one specific problem that torments them. James, the father, was once a famous actor, but his career began to decline, and money became an issue. His childhood has caused him to become somewhat stingy with money, and he is unwilling to pay top dollar for anything, even the well being of his family. Jamie, the elder of two brothers is into his thirties and still lives with the family. He has no job and continues to live off his parents. He has attended and dropped out of multiple colleges, and is generally viewed by all as somewhat of a failure. Edmund is the younger brother, and is held a generally higher standard the Jamie, although he still lives at home as well. Edmund is about ten years younger, and his mother in particular still maintains some hope for him to straighten his life around. Edmund has health issues as well, he is diagnosed with consumption and is told that he will have to attend a sanatorium for a year. All three of the men in the family have severe drinking problems as well. Probably the worst of all of the family however is the mother, Mary. Mary has many mental problems, and uses morphine constantly to relieve her anguish. After years of using she has become an addict, and it has gotten out of hand, causing her at times to react irrationally to situations. As a character however, she is depicted in two different forms, one as she was written in the play, and the other in the film. While her character is depicted in a generally similar way, overall it seems her reactions are taken to more of an extreme in the film. As a character in the novel, she experiences constant mood swings, and will say things bare ...